■ stentorian
vol. XXXII, issue 6
north Carolina school of science and mathematics
may 2013
stentorian@ncssm.edu
Inspiring speakers lined np for
32nd NCSSM commencement
By Jungsu Hong
As the 2012-2013 school
comes to a close, seniors and
juniors alike are anxiously
waiting for the annual NCSSM
commencement ceremony.
The NCSSM 32nd
Commencement Keynote
Speaker has been determined
to be Dan Ariely, a James B.
Duke Professor of Psychology
and Behavioral Economics at
Duke University.
Considered one of the
leading behavioral economists,
Ariely is the author of New
York Times bestsellers
“Predictably Irrational”, “The
Upside of Irrationality”, and
“TTie Honest Truth about
Dishonesty” and has appeared
on National Public Radio
and TED talks that have been
viewed over 4.8 million times.
Ariely is an Israeli American
who was bom in New York
City and raised in Israel. Ariely
was a math and physics major
at Tel Aviv University before
switching majors to philosophy
and psychology.
He eventually solely focused
his education in psychology
and in 1991 received his B.A.
in psychology. He continued
on his education to receive his
M.A. in 1994 and his Ph.D. in
cognitive psychology from the
University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill in 1996.
With the encouragement
of Nobel economic sciences
laureate Daniel Kahneman,
Ariely pursued a second
doctorate in business
administration from Duke
University in 1998. Ariely
taught at MIT from 1998 to
2008 after receiving his Ph.D.,
as an Alfred P. Sloan Professor
of Behavioral Economics
at the MIT Sloan School of
Management.
He is a founding member
of the Center for Advanced
Hindsight at Duke University,
which pursues research in
subjects such as the psychology
of money, medical decision
making, cheating, and social
justice.
In 2008, Ariely and his co
authors were awarded an Ig
Nobel Prize in medicine for
their research demonstrating
that “high-priced fake
medicine is more effective than
low-priced fake medicine”.
Ariely currently has
appointments at Duke in the
Fuqua School of Business,
the Center for Cognitive
Neuroscience, the Department
of Economics, and the School
of Medicine.
Along with Ariely this year,
senior Shaza Gaballah will
be the student speaker at the
commencement ceremony
Each year seniors are given
guidelines and a deadline to
send in potential speeches and
a selection committee blindly
judges the speeches and
chooses the speaker.
“I guess because most of
us would be valedictorians at
our old schools and give the
commencement speech, I feel
much honored to be giving this
commencement speech. My
goal was to encompass what it
was like to be here, for people
to get what my experience was
like at Science and Math”, said
Gaballah.
The NCSSM student body is
looking forward to hearing the
student given commencement
speech, as this is a NCSSM
tradition.
“I think Shaza is the perfect
Student Speaker because
not only do I pronounce her
name differently every time I
say it, but she epitomizes the
positive Science and Math
experience. Not only is she
a leader amongst our peers,
she is also a leader for our
generation. I have immense
respect for Shaza,” said senior
Joey Lew.
The commencement
ceremony will be held on
Watts lawn and is open
to the public. The 32nd
commencement ceremony
will be a bittersweet event as
seniors become grandseniors
and begin new chapters of
their lives, while juniors say
good-bye to their beloved
senior friends.
returns to NCSSM
By Adam Beyer
On April 13, NCSSM
students had the opportunity
to attend NCSSM’s second
annual TEDx conference.
Featured this year were HIV
researcher Dr. Myron Cohen,
editor ofNPR’s Science Friday
Flora Lichtman, director of
the Nature Research Center
at the NC Museum of Natural
Science Meg Lowman, and
entrepreneur and NCSSM
alum Carl Ryden.
TEDx is a community
organized event started with
the same mission as the TED
conferences and video series:
“ideas worth spreading”.
TEDx seeks to bring
together speakers who are
leaders in their respective
fields to share their perhaps
seemingly disparate ideas
and research to encourage
interdisciplinary thought in
order to effect positive change
Meg Lowman, Flora Lichtman, Myron Cohen, and Carl
Ryden, this year’s TEDxNCSSM speakers
Courtesy of TEDxNCSSM speakers
for the world.
Since January, a hard
working committee ofNCSSM
students with the leadership
of the Dean of Science,
Amy Sheck, organized
the conference, choosing
speakers, coordinating details.
and publicizing the event.
“Speakers were chosen by
considering prominent figures
who we felt were accessible
and fit with our theme,
“Turning Points,” as suggested
by various members,” said
senior Christie Jiang, member
of the executive organizing
committee. “We looked for
speakers with enthusiasm,
relevance to our student body,
and personal ties to NCSSM.”
“My hope is that students
were inspired to blend their
varied passions with effective
communication skills to be
able to realize ways they can
make a difference,” said junior
Hannah MeShea who attended
and designed graphics for the
event. “There was a strong
sense of creative energy in the
room and I felt students and
community members had a
good opportunity to connect.”
In order to attend, students
completed an application that
included a field for a seven
word or less description of their
hobbies, skills and interests.
This was displayed on their
nametags in order to serve to
catalyze interactions within
the audience which was be
comprised of approximately 60
NCSSM students and faculty,
local Durham students, and
dignitaries from the area who
have contributed to or have
a vested interest in science
education.
In this
issue...
Senior
Wills
p4-7,10-14
John Green
P3
College
Map
p8/9
This Year
in Pictures
pi 5